Ben's New Wheels!

If you've been following this blog for long, then you know that it's been a struggle to find a bike that works for Ben.  He's disabled enough that he can't ride a regular bike with training wheels.  Yet, he's not disabled enough to need a full adapted bike that costs thousands of dollars.

Well.  After many trials and much research, we have finally found THE bike for Ben!  It's a Mini Tike from Trailmate.  We weren't sure if it would work and after having made online purchases that haven't worked out, we weren't willing to buy it without trying it.  Luckily, there was a dealer just 5 minutes away from where we were staying in Florida when we were on vacation a few weeks back so we could go try it out.

We only had to add a few things to the trike to make it work for Ben.  We added a back rest and foot straps (as you will see in the video) and we've also purchased a handle which we haven't put on yet.  We also have to get a hand brake put on it.  For full disclosure purposes, the bike with all the adjustments came to around $500 (I'm not exactly sure as my husband paid for it).

I only got to see Ben try it for a few minutes when we were in Florida and have had to wait 2 more weeks to see him on it again as my parents brought it back to Canada for us in their RV.  They got back home last night so we headed straight to their place this afternoon to pick it up.

Here's a video I got of Ben on it!



As you can see, he loves it!  He has just one complaint though...he wants it to be red like the picture on the website...my husband and I have decided that if he keeps complaining, we'll take the bike to be painted.  After all, most other kids get to choose the colour of their bike...so he should too!

Holiday Eve

We leave bright and early tomorrow morning for our annual family vacation to Florida.  To say that I am excited is quite an understatement.  After a very long winter of surgery, rehab and then of course tax season (my husband is a tax accountant and the deadline in Canada is April 30th), our family is ready for some quality time together. 

Whenever I mention that we're going to Florida, everyone naturally assumes we are going to Disney World....but no, we're not going to Disney.  We plan to relax!  And that just doesn't happen at Disney World...it does however happen when you just spend a bunch a time at the pool and the beach. 

Here are Ben and Daniel 2 years ago:

And then here's the whole family last year:

This year will be a different trip than the last two.  Previously, we stayed for 8 nights at a very nice hotel/resort on Fort Myers Beach.  We loved it there!  It was the perfect place for young kids.

But this year, we are spending the first 4 nights in a hotel on Clearwater Beach (just the 4 of us) before meeting up with the rest of my family (my parents, my brother, his wife, and their 2 kids, and my sister and her boyfriend) at a huge house right on the beach just south of Clearwater.   We rented a house (well...really, it looks like a mansion to me) for a week...it seems extravagant but will actually be cheaper than what we usually spend because we are splitting the cost of the house four ways. 

I'm also excited to see how Ben gets around this year.  We've decided to leave his wheelchair behind and just take his walker and a stroller.  I really expect that we will only need the stroller in the airports...and I'm even hoping that he'll walk alot at the airports too.  The house has 4 stories but has an elevator so I expect that he'll do great at the house and be able to get himself all the way to the pool and beach on his own.    It is so exciting to see him walking so much these days...such a huge change from 6 months ago.

I will try to post an update or two while we are away...but I won't promise anything!  I do promise to at least update you once I'm back home.